On Wednesday, August 9, the local dailies highlighted the talks between President William Ruto's Kenya Kwanza and Raila Odinga's Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Coalition Party.
PAY ATTENTION: Help us change more lives, join TUKO.co.ke’s Patreon programme.
The local publications also had space for the uproar witnessed across the country following Inspector General Japhet Koome's claims that the opposition hired corpses from morgues to taint the National Police Service's image.
1. Taifa Leo
According to the Swahili publication, a man serving a 310-year prison sentence and also facing additional charges of armed robbery, which are still ongoing in court, caused a commotion in the Eldoret court cell when he attacked police officers, claiming that they were violating his rights.
The drama unfolded when Humphrey Shilisia, 55, appeared before Chief Magistrate Dennis Mikoyan for the mention of the ongoing armed robbery case in court.
PAY ATTENTION: TUKO.co.ke is on Threads - follow us and get the news directly in the app!
The mention came after the defendant's complaints, where he accused the police of taking away his mobile phone SIM card, claiming it had his money.
He demanded to be escorted to Safaricom's offices to retrieve his funds from the card.
The chaos began when the court informed him that the card had not been found yet.
2. The Standard
The daily reported on March 15 this year, Daniel Munywoki Wambua, an accountant at the Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA), opened an account at Equity Bank.
Within four months, Wambua, who had a net monthly salary of KSh 55,607, deposited more than KSh 21 million in the account without disclosing the source of the funds.
His sudden wealth caught the attention of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), which has filed a suit at the High Court to freeze Wambua’s accounts over suspicion that he is siphoning public funds from KeRRA.
“Preliminary investigation has established that he opened the account on March 15, 2023 and within a period of four months received KSh 21,189,125 which we suspect are proceeds of corruption and not from his legitimate income,” said EACC in the suit filed through lawyer Culent Simiyu.
EACC wants the court to freeze the three accounts to enable it complete investigations into the allegations of embezzlement of public funds, conflict of interest and abuse of office against the accountant.
According to Simiyu, the amounts deposited in Wambua’s accounts are way above what he earns in a year. He said the money was being directly deposited by Wambua and people suspected to be his proxies who he alleged collected bribes on his behalf from road contractors.
EACC lead investigator Mathew Ong’ondo said Wambua cannot explain the source of his sudden wealth and that they suspect he has registered other acquired properties in the names of his associates to hide his identity as the actual owner..
3. The Star
The publication reported that parents impacted by the Finland education scam are set to receive refunds totalling more than KSh 300 million.
Uasin Gishu governor Jonathan Bii, and Senator Jackson Mandago reached an agreement to facilitate the reimbursement process for the affected parents.
After engaging in an extensive meeting with the parents and students affected by the scam, both leaders concurred that a refund was the most appropriate resolution, given that the program had encountered insurmountable issues, causing a loss of interest among those who had initially paid.
Mandago, who had initially initiated the program with good intentions, expressed regret that unforeseen problems had arisen.
He voiced that if he had anticipated these issues, he would not have initiated the program.
Both Mandago and Bii requested the parents to grant them a week to formulate a viable plan for executing the refunds.
4. People Daily
According to the daily, a taxi driver who initially claimed to have transported Sharon Otieno to Kodera forest, where she ultimately met her demise, informed the court that he doubts the accuracy of certain portions of his testimony.
Jackson Gombe, while testifying before Justice Cecilia Githua at the Milimani High Court Criminal Division, conveyed his struggle in recalling specific aspects of his police statement regarding the events of the night of September 3, 2018.
During the cross-examination conducted by defense lawyer Elisha Ongoya, the witness denied having provided detectives with certain details mentioned in his statement pertaining to Sharon's murder.
Gombe has been on the witness stand for approximately a week, during which he has faced rigorous questioning aimed at clarifying the discrepancies in his testimony.
5. Daily Nation
The High Court reduced a life sentence to 40 years for a man who sexually assaulted a seven-year-old girl, following the Supreme Court's declaration of mandatory sentences as unconstitutional.
Justice Lucy Gitari ruled that, although Michael Kamoru Guantai's actions left the young girl traumatized for life, it was illegal to keep him incarcerated until his death.
She pointed out that, based on the landmark Muruatetu case, the Supreme Court had welcomed inmates serving mandatory sentences, including sexual offenders, to submit petitions for sentence reviews.
Justice Gitari also referred to the case of Julius Kitsao Manyeso in July, where the Court of Appeal emphasised the unconstitutionality of life sentences.
While acknowledging that Guantai deserved a definitive verdict, the judge noted that he had exhausted all his appeal options, with all courts upholding his conviction and life imprisonment.
The appellant was initially charged before the Tigania magistrate's court, where Tigania Principal Magistrate J. W. Gichimu found Guantai guilty and sentenced him to mandatory life imprisonment.
PAY ATTENTION: Click “See First” under the “Following” tab to see TUKO News on your News Feed
